The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Animated Pinup, by Lewis Parker

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Title: The Animated Pinup

Author: Lewis Parker

Release Date: May 12, 2010 [EBook #32345]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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The Animated Pinup

By Lewis Parker

[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Imagination Stories of
Science and Fantasy July 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any
evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

[Sidenote: You're not expected to believe this story since it's the kind
of thing that science calls impossible. But anyway, she happened. Who?
Why--]

To make it clear how normal everything was when the evening started out,
I'll let you in at the time Willy phoned me. I was in my apartment with
a lady from down the hall....

I had asked her what she liked and she'd purred, "You." I had asked her
with soda or gingerale and she'd said, "Straight," so I'd obliged and
poured myself a triple too and sank into the sofa beside her.

The phone rang.

"Oh damn," she said.

"Your earlobes--" I began.

"The phone, James."

"Your shoulders--"

"James? Don't you think you'd better answer it?"

So I sighed and handed her the glass and told her not to hold it till I
got back or she'd melt the ice. I crossed the room to the telephone.

"City morgue," I said.

"Uh--unh--"

"Hullo Willy," I said, recognizing the stammer.

While he gulped and stuttered a couple more times I threw a kiss to the
lady. She failed to throw it back because she was placing a bet with
herself that Willy was short for Wilhelmina.

Willy straightened his tongue out. "Jim, I've got to see you."

Now Willy was a nervous little guy from faulty thyroid but neurotic in a
bearable way. He sounded even more upset than he usually did. I didn't
particularly like him, but he was a topflight illustrator and I liked
the way he drew women, and besides I'd been trying for a year to tag him
for our age